Monthly Archive February 2013

John Finger at csnphilly.com thinks the Sixers organization need to “flip the script” and looks at the Sixers horrible tendency to shoot from “the yard”. Something we have been complaining about all year.

From Yahoo Sports, a preview of tonight’s Sixers at Bulls game which is on national TV. The Sixers could get really smoked tonight in Chicago and further continue their slide to the 2013 Lottery. Although the Bulls are 4-8 in their last 12 games.

Tuesday night, the 76ers sank to a new low in the mess that is the 2012-2013 season. Following a 14-point loss to the now 16-41 Orlando Magic, a team they had previously demolished by 17 points, the Sixers are now 22-33 overall.

What’s worst of all, is that because of tiebreakers, Doug Collins and company are now in last place in the Atlantic Division. Through this six-game losing streak it has become crytsal clear that this team needs a change in order to inject some energy into this squad and revitalize what has spiraled into a simply lifeless team.

Following the gruesome loss down at the Wells Fargo Center, Collins made headlines with his blatantly critical comments about the lack of effort and energy from his players.

“We made a huge deal and we have nobody playing a part of that deal. How many teams can give up Andre Iguodala, Moe Harkless and Nikola Vucevic and have nothing in return playing? That’s tough to overcome,” Collins told reporters after the game. “That’s just the facts. I’m not looking for any outs. That’s a fact. Nik Vucevic had 19 rebounds tonight. Spencer had one, I think Lavoy had two… I did not think our guys prepared themselves during the break to come back to play.”

The problem with Collins’ comments is that he was largely responsible, along with the front office, for making the off-season moves that gave him his current roster.

After a six game stretch of decent play, the enigma that is ET took a nose dive tonight. I did like that he got to the FT line 10 times, but Herb Magee should be embarrassed that Turner is one of his projects.

Jrue nearly posted a double-double tonight, but he did not seem like himself. I didn’t see that ORL did anything special to take Holiday out of the game but Jrue didn’t score his 1st bucket until the 1st Q buzzer and he really never got going tonight. Still, 10 dimes and only 1 turnover has a nice ring to it

Wilkins was one of the few Sixers who brought the energy and effort tonight. DW looked like a true Wilkins family member with the FB dunk he threw down and then the alley-oop he caught in the 1st half.

Doug Collins

How about the mad dash DC made to the locker room before the final horn even sounded!?! Way to stand by your guys coach. In the post game presser he cited that he didn’t know there was going to be a shot clock violation called on ORL at the end of the game as the reason for his early exit. BS. What the hell is he saying at half that the Sixers start the 3rd Qs so poorly.

It goes without saying that 2012-13 has been a major disappointment for the76ers. Outside of the stellar play from Thaddeus Young and Jrue Holiday, not much has gone right for Doug Collins & Co. over the first 53 games of this season.

Since January 1st, the Sixers own a record of 7 wins and 15 losses. As we all know, the team is currently stuck in a 5 game losing streak and has dropped 6-of-their-last-7. Included in this most recent stretch of losing is a 19 point loss to Indiana, a 17-point L to the Clippers and a 114-90 beat down at the hands of the Miami Heat. In short, it’s been ugly for the Sixers of late.

So if I told you we found a silver lining among all of that garbage would you believe me?

Would you think I was totally crazy if I told that one of the few positives I could pull from watching the Sixers over the last six games was the play of Evan Turner?

You would be hard pressed to find a bigger Evan Turner critic then this scribe, so as I re-watched the recent string of Sixers games, I found it hard to believe that I was asking myself this question, “Is it possible that Evan Turner is playing better basketball?”

The “eye ball test” tells me that Turner may in fact be playing at an improved level and a after quick look at the basic stats from the last six games one could argue in favor of my suspicions. However, if you dig a little deeper there is evidence that suggests Turner is playing at the same old disappointing level.

After the jump, I’ll provide you with a look at the facts and you can decide for yourself what is going on with Turner over the last six contests.

It was absolutely refreshing to see Thad back out their on the court tonight. Considering he played 36 minutes after missing the last six games and hadn’t appeared since February 4, you can live with the 5-of-12 shooting. Especially when the team was +11 with him on the court and he pulled down 10 boards.

This was a very tough game to evaluate from Evan. A 21-8-6 is very impressive stat-line from him on the surface. He also drove to the cup with a purpose, hitting 7-of-7 from the line. However, his tech at the end of the first quarter was devastating and he shot 7-of-18 from the field. High risk high reward.

It’s absolutely bewildering Hawes almost finished this game with a double-double. He played arguably his worst half of basketball in a Sixers uniform tonight in the first half. If only the Sixers had a big above 6’10” who could take it to the rim with authority…(Or if only Doug Collins would let Moultrie play)

Jrue played very well tonight. 30 points on 50 percent shooting from the field is a job well done. He also made the game interesting when he led the Sixers push to make it somewhat of a contest in the waning minutes of the fourth Quarter. Unfortunately for Jrue, it was too little too late.

Thad’s return to action and Jrue’s high scoring night definitely overshadowed how efficient Lavoy was and how soft a touch he had around the hoop. It didn’t show up in the stats, but the Temple grad also had some nice interior passes which setup Spencer and Thad for the charity stripe.

When Wright goes into each game not knowing if he’ll play 28 minutes or register a coach’s decision DNP, it’s kind of hard to realistically expect any relative production out of him. He’s arguably been the most misused player on this roster besides Arnett Moultrie.

Pargo played some nice basketball in his 31 minutes of play, but an NBA team can’t really expect to win when he receives that many minutes and when he’s an intricate part of your crunch time lineup. It’s intriguing when he plays with Jrue, but not overly dynamic.

Meh. Wilkins produced on the offensive end of the floor in his time tonight, but he’s supposed to be a defensive stopper and didn’t really do any of that in this game against Amare. Oh, and why was he playing at PF?

Tonight. Moultrie gets an A+++++. How is this guy not playing at all? How is Damien Wilkins eight minutes better at the PF position than Moultire? How is he not playing if this organization ranked him in the Top 10 of last June’s draft class? This is criminal.

Only 28 games remaining until Kwame Brown becomes “Kwame Brown’s expiring contract” as well as Spencer Hawes. That would hopefully get interesting in the offseason, but who are we kidding with this front office?

Charles Jenkins is second all-time in scoring in the Colonial Athletic Association behind only David “The Admiral” Robinson. But, he’s behind Jrue, Evan, Pargo, and most likely Royal Ivey in the rotation. DiLeo said they will evaluate him down the stretch, but not if he doesn’t play.

I wonder how Ivey feels whenever Jeremy Pargo makes a shot. Does he cheer, or curse under his breath? Or, does he cheer while thinking of ways to give him food poisoning before the team’s next game?

Doug Collins

On Twitter tonight, people were debating if Collins has started tanking. That’s not really in his system. What else isn’t in his system? Using smart defensive units, playing potential-filled rookies and designing an offense that has some form of motion. Maybe if he wore a tie things would get better?

After a stellar 1st Q in which he scored, rebounded, dropped a dime or two and set some nice picks, Lavoy disappeared. What remains most disturbing for me is that he defense has not gotten any better since he entered the NBA.

Another roller coaster night from the enigma that is Evan Turner. He came out of the gates fast going by going to the rim and hitting 3-3 in the 1st Q. He then missed his next 4 FGAs in the 1st half. ET was also part of curious “small lineup” in the 2nd Q that provided little resistance for the Heat. In the 2nd half ET started 2-2 on FGAs and then proceeded to go 2-5. FYI…ET is now 0-for-his-last-12 on 3PAs

A very good night for Jrue that included only 2 TOs against one of the better defensive teams in the NBA. It was odd to me that he did not attempt a FG until 1:47 remained in the 1st Q, but I especially liked the way he attacked the rim from that point on. Holiday’s effort inspired this ohh so true quote from Lebron, “”Holiday is a great player, but he needs help.”

Dorell was determined to get his against the team that drafted him straight out of high school. Some of the 3PAs he hoisted up last night were more then ill-advised, but he managed to shoot 50% so I guess we can’t be too critical.

I’m not sure there was anything Doug could have done to stop last night’s lopsided loss, so I can’t blame much of this one on him. But I am having major issues with his management of minutes. Hawes was awful last night, but Moultrie doesn’t get in until garbage time? Same with Lavoy. He limited Pargo to 22 mins. as well. I also did not like the Ivey/Turner/Pargo/Wright/Allen lineup that he trotted out there in the 2nd Q. The results for that lineup weren’t pretty. And whatever speech he gave in in the locker room at halftime needs to be thrown out and never used again.

Perhaps the only thing more curious and frustrating then the way the 76ers played in Minnesota on Wednesday night were the post game comments from head coach Doug Collins.

“We played terribly,” Doug Collins said after the debacle in Minnesota. “I don’t know what else to say. It was terrible. No energy. No life – at all. It was terrible. I mean, I can’t candy-coat it any more than that.”

Those brutally honest words came on the heels of several not-so-inspiring quotes that were tossed out to the media by Collins just before the all-star break.

“We’ve been through a lot this year. It’s been a tough year for us.” — were lines issued by a seemingly tired and very frustrated Collins on a couple of occasions leading into the all-star vacation the Sixers just experienced.

If you follow the NBA at all, you know that in his previous coaching stops Collins has had a history of burning out himself or his players after three years. This is DC’s third year at the helm of the Sixers and it has not gone well on many fronts. When you combine this year’s mess with how hard Collins worked in his previous two seasons here in Philly, one could intelligently hypothesize that Doug may be coming to the end of his run with the Sixers.

After the jump, four Philadunkia scribes offer their opinions on the DC’s future with the 7-6.

After last night’s loss in Minnesota and DC’s post game comments, the 2012-2013 season is nearly a wrap for the 76ers. To be honest, outside of Jrue Holiday’s All-Star campaign, this year has been a highly disappointing one for the 7-6.

That disappointment will continue today as it’s very unlikely that the 76ers are major players at the trade deadline. Toni Dileo squashed any sliver of hope we had left when he came out and said, “we don’t plan on making any moves”.

Why any NBA front office person would make that statement and show his poker hand just before the trade deadline is a mystery to us here at Philadunkia, but that’s another post for another time.

After the jump, Philadunkia scribes Jake Fischer and Steve Toll each propose three deals that the Sixers should make today because the trades potentially make sense for the future of this franchise.

Lavoy Allen, PF26 MIN | 4-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 8 PTS | -15At times in the second half I was actually ok with Allen’s physicality. Yet, the 14-footer off his back foot to basically seal the game for the T’Wolves was one of the ugliest things I’ve seen all year. Grading on the Allen curve (due to his recent production increase) I’ll be nicer than usual.

Evan Turner, SF36 MIN | 6-16 FG | 5-6 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 4 TO | 17 PTS | -8If a basketball game was 12 minutes, Turner played a hell of a game. Turner sparked the Sixers comeback in the third, scoring 14 of his 17 points in the quarter. He disappeared however in the fourth and I’ve gotten really tired of his act of lobbying calls. On a couple occasions Nikola Pekovic clearly fouled Turner with no-call’s, but when you start whining it’s only going to make matters worse. If there’s one player who should be nervous on deadline day, it’s ET. (Crossing my fingers for a Josh Smith trade)

Jrue Holiday, PG35 MIN | 7-17 FG | 2-4 FT | 3 REB | 5 AST | 5 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 16 PTS | -16In a rare occurrence Jrue struggled with foul trouble all game, which killed any chance the Sixers had at winning this game. He sat for key moments of the third and fourth quarter and couldn’t be as physical as he wanted on the offensive end. Jrue’s five steals were a season high, but it was also the first time he’s fouled out all season. This cannot happen against a team like the Timberwolves. Wins are sparse for this team as it is.

Nick Young, SG32 MIN | 1-7 FG | 4-9 FT | 5 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 6 PTS | -9Swaggy wasn’t Swag-nificent in this game. I’m happy that he attacked the rim though. His nine free-throw attempts is actually the second most by a Sixer this season. Thaddeus Young attempted 11 back on November 27th against the Mavericks. It would’ve been even better if Swaggy could’ve hit them. When he was fouled on a three early in the fourth, he somehow missed all three attempts when it would’ve cut the Timberwolves’ lead to just seven with 8:04 to play. There were a lot of those missed opportunities in this game, but that one was especially brutal to watch.

Dorell Wright, SF19 MIN | 2-6 FG | 4-5 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 10 PTS | +5Making progress is a big thing for a players psyche. This was Wright’s first game of scoring double digits since January 4th. It seems like coach Doug Collins has taken Wright out of the Do(u)g House recently and let him roam free a little bit on the hardwood. He’s averaged nearly 18 minutes a game in the past five games after averaging just under eight minutes in the eight games prior. Now if only he could find his shooting stroke!

Jeremy Pargo, PG9 MIN | 2-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 5 PTS | 0I would’ve liked to have seen a Jrue/Pargo combo at some point in this game. Unfortunately it didn’t happen. Pargo getting a deal for the rest of the season is one of the few bright spots that has happened for the Sixers in the past few weeks. I’m hoping that eventually he will receive a lot more minutes than the next two people below him.

Damien Wilkins, SG26 MIN | 5-10 FG | 3-4 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 13 PTS | +5Wilkins had a rare offensive performance in this game. His 13 points were a season high. He hasn’t registered 10 points in a game since January 4, 2012. His play at the end of the second quarter and Turner’s third quarter turned this into a game in the second half.

Arnett Moultrie, PFDNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | An extra C’monnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Son to Doug Collins! How the hell did Arnett Moultrie get a DNP when the Sixers were getting eaten alive in the paint and on the boards? Collins is quickly coaching his way out of Philadelphia for antics like this.

Doug Collins“We played terribly I don’t know what else to say. It was terrible. No energy, no life at all. It was terrible. I can’t candy-coat it any more than that. The only thing we did in the second half was compete. We didn’t play well, we just played harder.”- Doug Collins…We agree Doug…Now what are you going to do about it? How many times are we going to sit through the same speal? You’re beginning to sound like another Philadelphia coach who was run out of town just last month. Tick tock, tick tock.

Putting aside Andrew Bynum’s interesting hair style choice for a second, let’s take a deeper look at the comments he made to the mainstream media regarding the latest setback (I guess that’s still the proper term.) with his knees. While we review Bynum’s words, let’s also remember a short-lived article posted back in November that had an interesting prediction for those same knees.

In short, on Tuesday Bynum pushed back the timetable for his Sixers debut yet again, by stating that he could begin practicing with the team in “a week, could be two” and is “a couple weeks out” from going live against defenders. He then followed those gems with this comment, “I’ll definitely be back sometime this year,”

That last comment is interesting to me because Bynum has an appointment today with yet another doctor – Dr. Glashow. Glashow as you may recall just happens to be the same doctor who recently determined Jason Richardson’s nagging knee needed season-ending surgery. Glashow then performed that operation earlier this week.

“He said he has some new software or something that can show what’s going on,” Bynum said about Glashow. “I’m waiting to see what he says.”

Ohh boy. Does anyone else see where this is headed?

If it is determined today that Bynum does in fact need surgery, it would be ironic as surgey is something that Jason Wolf of delawareonline.com wrote back in November could be in store for Bynum’s knees after he spoke with an “internationally respected orthopedic surgeon”.